The Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), an independent watchdog for MNREGS, has come under fire from its prominent members - Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze.

“The CEGC has wide powers and responsibilities under the act. It was intended to act as an independent watchdog for MNREGS at the national level. However CEGC has failed to fulfill its mandate under the law,” they said in an unsigned document titled ‘Crisis in MNREGS: priority issues’ released to the media here on Monday.

"It rarely meets, does not have an executive committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it is supposed to prepare for the Parliament. This is unlikely to change unless the council is restructured and enabled to carry out its mandate of being the employement scheme's independent monitoring body at the national level,” the document said.

“The council has no independence to speak of and is largely ineffective,” Dreze said.

Asked how could the council be made more effective, he said, the ministry could start with making a executive committee and empowering it

Gathered in the capital to point out the deficiencies in the Act, the duo lambasted the rural development ministry for ignoring the suggestions of the six working groups specifically made to make recommendations at improving the implementation of MNREGS.

"The ministry has not gone in the details of the recommendations or has deliberately misread it," Dreze said.

Linking MNREGS wages to the price index and allowing independent parties intervention in social audits were some of the major recommendations of the working groups. Both were rejected by the rural development ministry.